


Fixing What's Broken

by lanalucy



Series: The Healing Arts [9]
Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/F, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-20
Updated: 2014-03-20
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:56:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1331014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanalucy/pseuds/lanalucy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kara's back, she's not the same, and Laura has no idea how to help her.</p><p>Thanks to newnumbertwo for the beta, and thanks to afrakaday for taking a peek at it, too!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fixing What's Broken

Laura watched Kara sleep, mind sifting through all the things Kara had said and done, or not said or done, since she’d stopped in front of her at the transport station. 

Kara had stayed in the tub a long time - hours - refreshing the water every time it started to cool down. Laura had picked up food on the way home, and she’d pulled a TV tray into the bathroom, laid the food out, and fed Kara while Kara soaked. 

Kara had been extremely compliant, had done nothing of her own volition except make sure the water stayed hot. Laura had washed and rinsed Kara, pulled her from the tub, dried her off, tucked her into bed, and held her hand until she fell asleep. Kara had made no move whatsoever to initiate sex, and Laura had just let it slide - she was too happy to have Kara back to complain about not having sex.

Still, it made Laura wonder - all of it did. Something had happened to Kara while she was gone. Something traumatic enough to damage Kara more. She wasn’t sure she had the patience to wait for Kara to tell her what it was, and she wondered who she knew that she might ask for a favor to get a look at Kara’s Fleet file. Kara would probably see that as a betrayal of trust, so she’d have to decide if she was worried enough to take that chance. Aside from that, Laura was enough of a realist to know that whatever had happened might not be in Kara’s file. It might have been swept under the rug, depending on what it was.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
The next several weeks were much the same. Kara was withdrawn and uncommunicative at home, timid when asking for anything. She reported to work in uniforms that hung on her frame. She almost never smiled. She hadn't responded to any of Laura’s tentative sexual overtures.

Laura did some research and found a therapist who specialized in military patients and their families. She was former Fleet herself and still had security clearances. Laura made an appointment.

“I just...I don’t know what to do for her. I don’t know what happened, and any time I get anywhere near the subject of her tour, she redirects the conversation. I know I can’t fix her, but the woman I love is hurting and she won’t let me help - won’t even let me in.”

Dr. Otis turned a page on her notepad. “All right, Laura. Start at the beginning. Not just the beginning of this, but the beginning of the two of you. Tell me everything. How you met, the first time you kissed, the first time you made love, the first secrets you shared. Everything.”

Laura started to talk. Dr. Otis listened, mostly taking notes, occasionally commenting.

_That was an extraordinary expression of trust, Laura. She was not only trusting you with a piece of her past, but also with helping her overcome it. And you responded beautifully._

As the session wound down, Laura glanced at her watch and was surprised to realized Dr. Otis had let her talk for more than two hours.

“Yes. We went over, but I felt it was necessary for me to get as much background information as possible. From here, I can help you formulate a plan for getting her on the road to healing.” She closed her notebook, laid her pen precisely over it, and stayed quiet a moment. “Though I can’t state definitively, it sounds very much to me like Kara was assaulted while she was deployed. Sexually assaulted. She’s showing classic signs and symptoms. Helping her heal when she won’t discuss it is going to be a long process, fraught with emotion. If you aren’t prepared to be with her for the whole journey…”

Laura quickly corrected her. “I’m in it for the long haul. If she hadn’t been deployed, I was planning to talk to her about marriage. I haven’t stopped loving her, haven’t stopped wanting her in my life. I just want to help her get better, and I have no idea how to do that.”

“All right. I frequently do studies for Fleet, so I’ll request some jackets and include Kara’s among them. You understand that I will not be able to discuss anything in her personnel file with you?”

“I know. I’m not interested in _what_ she’s done. I’m only interested in how it’s affecting her, how it’s making the woman I love disappear.”

“Very well. In the meantime, you and I can continue to meet, if you wish, to help you deal with how her PTSD is affecting you.”

“I think I would love to have that support. What about other family members? Do you know of any groups for family members? I’ll do whatever I need to do to get _my_ Kara back.”

“I’ll look into it for you, make inquiries to other therapists.”

“Wonderful. How about billing?”

Dr. Otis waved that away. “I have an office manager who handles all of that so that I can focus on what I do best. He’ll have handled it, and if there are any problems, he’ll be the one who contacts you.”

Laura nodded. “I would prefer that all contact be on my mobile phone. I don’t want to take any chances on Kara being set back because she finds out I couldn’t cope.”

“The Kara you’ve described to me wouldn’t be, but I’ll make a note of it for him.” 

They spent a few more minutes setting up the next appointment, and Laura took her leave. She walked out into the crisp evening air feeling like she’d accomplished something, even if all she’d really done was talk.


End file.
